The distinctive type of painted pottery associated with the Halaf culture is found throughout an area that includes Northern Iraq, large parts of Eastern Turkey, Northern and Coastal Syria, and Eastern Lebanon. The Halaf veramic tradition is not present in the same form in all of these regions, however. Different styles of Halaf painted pottery can be recognized in the Mosul region of Iraq, in the Habur headwaters region of Eastern Syria, and in the Euphrates river valley. Additionally, separate Halaf-influenced painted pottery traditions exist west of the Euphrates valley in Cilicia, the Turkish Hatay, Western Syria and the Lebanese Beqa'a. The Halaf-style pottery of these areas is not associated with a full Ha]af culture artefact assemblage, and probably develops as a result of contacts between these areas and Halaf culture sites to the east. The Halaf ceramic tradition in the Mosul and Habur regions evolves along the same general lines insofar as pottery shape and decoration are concerned, The main differences between these two regions involve the way in which the same Halaf design elements are used. There is, however, a consistent variation in Halaf pottery styles between the regions. The Halaf ceramic tradition arrives in the Euphrates valley region only after a long period of stylistic development had already taken place in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria. Euphrates Halaf pottery generally reflects Habur region pottery styles. Trade in Halaf painted pottery played an important role in maintaining the general uniformity of the Halaf ceramic tradition by providing a mechanism for the rapid diffusion of stylistic changes. The neutron activation analysis of Halaf pottery from several sites indicates that Halaf pottery was traded both within regions of Halaf culture settlement and between these regions. This trade was a regular part of Halaf culture economic activity.